ANONYMOUS'S PERSONAL STORY

October 10, 2016Pediatric FGIMDs

I am 13 years old and i have been dealing with severe, chronic constipation my entire life. My constipation was pretty bad when I was younger, considering I was young and didn't really know what was going on with me. By the time I was 10 or 11 years old, my constipation seemed to being gettting better, or at least I thought. In March of 2016, my 7th grade year, I started experiencing nausea. It came suddenly. That first day it all started I just thought I ate too much.

My nausea was pretty bad that day. I remember having to get up in the middle of class feeling like I had to throw up. I went to the bathroom and didnt throw up. I felt very nauseous and uncomfortable in class, so I went home. The next time I was nauseous, my mom gave me cyproheptadine. This worked great.

It lasted 24 hours and I wasn't nauseous at all. i was nauseous a few more times, but by the 4th or 5th time taking cyproheptadine, it wasn't as effective. After, coming back from spring break April 4, is when my nauseous became daily. I was constantly asking to go to the nurse because of how sick I felt. I alwasy asked to go to the bathroom thinking I was gonna puke. I would go in home in the middle of the school day becaus eo how miserbale I flelt, but when I got home I felt okay. I went to my peditrician and he did some blood work. My blood tests came back and I had high sugar and cholestrol. So my mom and I thought my nausea was because of this. I started drinking less soda and eating more fruit. I was still nauseous however, but I never threw up, always feeling like I had to.

It took about a month to get an approval from the insurance to refer me to a Gastrologist. So, i took cyproheptadine all month and my nausea was sometimes bareable. In May, the Gastrologist put me on erythromycin. I took it for about a week and it made me feel worse. I tried Zofran a few times, but it didn't make me feel 100 percent better. So, a few days later he prescribed me Metoclopram. This really seemed to work. I took it twice a day along with cyproheptadine once a day. However, in May there were a few times I had lots of nausea but no vomitting. The end of the school year comes by and I am still not 100 percent better. I start taking metoclopram three times. My GI doctor, requested a CT scan. And my the end of June, I had the CT scan.

A few days I got the results and my doctor said he saw what he thought was endometrium growing outside my uterus. So a few weeks later, I saw an OBGYN. I got an ultrasound and she found nothing. *what a waste of time* By this time summer was almost over. School comes along, and I start getting stomach cramps and heartburn. So my GI doctor prescribes me a medication that treats ulcers/ acid reflux ( at this point I was desperate and sure it was acid reflux) . I took the medication two times a day along with metoclopram twice a day. However, the metoclopram began making me feel very depressed, constipated even more, and I had increased hunger and apetite. But, i still took it all of August because it helped my nausea most.

On Septmeber 1, I got an endonoscopy, expecting my doctor to say I had acid reflux. I was surprised when he said I had Bile Reflux Gastritis. That day was probably the best day of my life because for months I didn't know what was wrong with me. I had many breakdowns where I just cried and cried because of how much this nausea had affected my life. I lost interest in things I used to love doing, which was absolutely heartbreaking. I ended 7th grade nauseous and depressed. I started 8th grade nausoues and depressed. My doctor put me on Amoxicillin which I had to take 3 times a day on a full stomach. I also took Cholestyramine twice day, along with laxatives. I was completley done with metoclopram. My nausea began to subdue.

However, I am unsure if it did anything. It was supposed to help push the bowel out of my system. It gave me really bad stomach cramps, but that just meant it was working. My body is so used to not having a bowel movement for several days at a time that it just refuses to go every single day. Its now October, and I still have stomach cramps often. Every single morning, I wake up very nauseous and with stomach cramps, by afternoon it stops, but by evening it comes back, and at night it is really bad. Throughout these several months I felt very very very very hopeless. I felt ver sad now knwoing what was wrong with me for so long. And now that I do im frustrated because its techincally not curable and some people thought my sickness was invlaid because I had never thrown uo once. One time, I went to the ER becaouse of how nauseous I felt. That feeling 2 minutes you feel before you throw up is what i felt for about 12 hours. i got no sleep that night. And it is very rare for bile reflux gasritis to occur through constipation. But because I have had chronic consitpation my entire life, bile reflux starts to come along.

I feel very lonely because I know of no one my age going thorugh this. I feel alone because I feel everyone around me is healthy and I am not. Because of my illness I have become a different person. I have become less fun, less motivated, less me. I am posting my story in hopes of finding someone else who is going throughwhat I am. I hope to find teenagers who are in constant pain and discomfort like I am . I shouldnt have to worry about this I'm only 13, minding you it all started when I was 12. Please if anyone is going through what I am, please state so, I'd love to hear your story.

COMMENTS (1)

November 14, 2016 09:36 — Aurora Deleon

Dont feel bad because of your medical condition I am also going through all of that and trust me I know it is not easy because I also get bloated every day and it makes me feel awful but I get embarrassed because I am not able to use any jeans I only wear legging and I have cecostomy tube and it is hard but dont get sad at least now you know someone going throught that